Rooftop solar will be the next big thing, say experts

Rooftop solar power plants are set to take off in a big way in India, many speakers at REaction, a conference of the renewable energy industry here, said. The 3-day conference is being organised by Energy Alternatives India, a Chennai-based clean-tech consultancy.

Mr Pashupathy Gopalan, Managing Director, SunEdison, said solar plants on rooftops of commercial buildings can even now produce power at costs almost equal to distribution company rates.

Residential rooftops will reach “grid parity” within two years, he said.

It doesn’t matter even if policy-makers do nothing to push rooftop solar. “Economics will take over,” Mr Gopalan said.

SunEdison has put up a 100 kW plant on the roof of SCOPE, Standard Chartered Bank’s captive BPO in Chennai. The company has not disclosed at what price it sells electricity to StanChart. However, Mr Gopalan today said it is feasible to sell rooftop solar electricity at around Rs 7 a unit. The biggest advantage in this is that electricity prices are fixed for, say, 30 years. In contrast, even if grid power is a trifle cheaper today, it is bound to go up.

Mr Gopalan said the critical aspect about residential rooftop projects is raising funds. Typically, households are not inclined to incur capital expenditure for electricity that is anyway available from the grid. But even if they want to do it, they may find it difficult to raise funds from banks, he said.

Mr Madhavan Nampoothiri, Founder and Director, RESOLVE Energy Consultants, said a unit of rooftop solar power could cost Rs 10 to produce, if the system has battery-based storage. Without battery back up, the cost would be much less.

A rooftop solar plant with “grid-tie” will not need battery back-up, but the solar plant will stop functioning if the grid goes off. However, if a diesel genset is used as a back-up for periods when grid power fails, solar power could be harnessed the most, said Mr Rajeev Agarwal, Founder & Managing Director, Ardor Green Solar and Wind Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based company that undertakes rooftop solar construction jobs, told Business Line today.

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Comments:

In some countries, including the United States, the local governments have been installing solar panels on street lampposts. The power generated is fed directly into the grid. This is an easy thing to implement in India. Fears of theft are genuine. But, remember, no one barring the electricity workers are going to climb a post to steal the panels. If needed, these can be printed with a logo of the electricity department to deter theft.

To sensitize people to solar energy, the government should make it mandatory for all houses and apartments to set up solar water heaters, as the first step.

from:
G.Krishnan

Posted on: Jul 27, 2012 at 11:02 IST

Even better, Canada has a policy to encourage the production of solar energy. So they promote citizens to install solar panels on their roof top and connect it to a regional grid. This is through a meter and government pays the citizens based on the meter readings. There are banks which offer full financing of such installations and the revenue earned through the supply is more than sufficient to support the repayment. After a decade, what you have is enough power generation for your home at absolutely no cost. Or still if it is routed to the grid, you stand to earn good money every month.

from:
Subhash

Posted on: Jul 28, 2012 at 03:39 IST

The Kerala Government is planning to install 10,000 1.2 kW rooftop solar energy installations in Kerala at Rs.2 lac each unit. Is Rs.2 lac per unit is the right price? Don't you think that some under the table money is also included in the cost?

from:
Ramanathan Menon

Posted on: Aug 1, 2012 at 11:48 IST

The Solar Roof Top Power to the Grid is a beautiful idea. Here in Gujarat some cities are given status of Solar City and for rooftop solar power special impetus is given. My only worry is how cheaper we can generate this power which is based on price of solar panels. Good quality solar panel at average price can definetly boost up this idea 0f generating extra power at door step.